Vietnamese Canadians

Vietnamese Canadians

Mainstream Vietnamese communities began arriving in Canada in the mid 1970s and early 1980s as refugees or boat people following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, though a couple thousand were already living in Quebec before then, most of whom were students. Most new arrivees were sponsored by groups of individuals, temples, and churches and settled in areas around Southern Ontario, Montreal, Quebec, and Vancouver, British Columbia. Between 1975 to 1985, 110,000 settled in Canada (23,000 in Ontario; 13,000 in Quebec; 8,000 in Alberta; 7,000 British Columbia; 5,000 in Manitoba; 3,000 in Saskatchewan; and 2,000 in the Maritime provinces). As time passed, most eventually settled in urban centres like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton, Hamilton and Calgary.

The next wave of Vietnamese migration came in the late 1980s and 1990s as both refugees and immigrant classes of post-war Vietnam entered Canada. These groups settled in urban areas, in particular Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver.

Vietnamese immigrants settled mainly in the eastern sections of Vancouver and in Montreal's downtown and south shore. In Toronto they have settled in the city's Chinatown area near Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West or to the west in Mississauga. Vietnamese Canadians also brought their cuisine and phở has become a popular food everywhere in Canada.